Visitors to Japan hit the record high in 2018 but forgo shopping sprees

Tourism competition is heating up across Asia and it’s not just because of geopolitics. Japan had a record high of 31.19 million visitors in 2018 despite natural disasters and airport shutdowns. However, the level of annual growth is slowing, from 17.8% to 8.7% in 2018. Additionally, Chinese shoppers are becoming more frugal with their spending and have been overtaken by Australia as Japan’s top-spending visitors. Companies are now trying to attract foreigners through experience-based services vs buying luxury items. We are already seeing this trend emerging in Australia.